Chapter Ten: Nighttime Hijinks
Earth 7/Beta
19 November, 1994
Northern Scotland
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
It was two weeks before Harry and the others could make their move to destroy the two Horcruxes inside Hogwarts and investigate the Chamber of Secrets. Most of the delays came in the form of one Albus Dumbledore, who seemed to have gotten it in his feeble old mind that if he kept popping up at the Embassy doors Harry would just roll over and let him in. This had not been the case however and the old man was visibly becoming more agitated with each passing day. Even worse was the fact Dumbledore was constantly casting detection wards around the Embassy to notify him the moment Harry stepped outside. It took one of those unexpected meetings with the old meddler for Harry to figure out what was going on. After that confrontation and thanks in part to a crash course on ward detection, Harry started searching for wards every time he looked outside.
Thankfully it had not been time wasted as Hippolyta had been spending a great deal of time at the Embassy training Harry, Kara, and Hermione. Hermione had at first been a bit reluctant to join in the training, she was not happy how the whole thing had come about. Her main complaint was her displeasure regarding someone else knowing her secret, especially someone that she hadn't personally vetted and told. It took several meetings with the Clan Head before she was convinced the situation was a positive one, but now the young warrior relished the time she spent training with them. Hippolyta was surprised by Hermione's almost instinctive understanding of Veela battle tactics, not to mention her overall physical and mental development, two qualities that were stressed among the Veela warriors. Hermione for her part just soaked up everything she learned and looked at Hippolyta as a role model.
"My dear Hermione," Hippolyta had told her after a particularly good training session, "beauty is only skin deep. What truly makes a good warrior, better yet a good person, is a strong mind and a willingness to learn. Whether it be from a book, a battle, or even a mistake the ability to learn is the greatest weapon you will ever have. Some say knowledge is power, but without the ability to lean and understand that knowledge it is useless. You may not have been born Veela, nor have our magic, but never doubt that you are one of us."
Harry and Kara were also enjoying the Veela training methods, especially Kara. While the Veela warriors stressed efficiency and patience in battle, they were not above using their Allure as a means of distracting an opponent. Hippolyta had already proven in her sparring with Harry that a good old fashioned dose of flirting could distract a man enough to gain a quick win, not to mention the pure seductive nature of a beautiful woman. Sure, Harry had felt the fool after getting "accidentally" flashed by the older woman, but even he could see the advantages of distracting an enemy. Starting with the next battle after that loss, Harry had taken to chatting with his sparring partners and trying to distract them whether through flirting or odd comments.
"Wow, do you wax or shave?" was Harry's personal favorite and the one that won him a spar against Hippolyta, though she made him pay for it in the next match.
Tonight however the training was set aside as Harry, Kara, and the teens from Hogwarts had once again gathered in the Embassy to prepare for their search for Tom's Horcruxes. Thanks to their beloved Aunt Minnie, Harry had learned that tonight Dumbledore would be away from the castle visiting with his brother down in Hogsmeade. With Remus' aid in canceling yet another series of wards cast by the elderly meddler, Harry and the others would sneak into the castle just after curfew and make their way first to the seventh floor and then attempt to locate the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The second was the trickier endeavor as it would require them to seek out the point at which the void in Harry and Kara's mage/energy sight reached the castle.
"It's like when we first created the Map," explained Sirius as they sat and waited for curfew. "Sure, half the process was the spell work, which James and Remus took care of, but there was more to it than that. While those two buried their noses in books trying to find the perfect spells to use, me and the traitor explored."
"We cast tracking charms on Sirius and," here Remus stopped, grimacing for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, we used those tracking charms to give us an idea of the true dimensions of the castle. Sometimes it was not what we could see that told us there was a secret, but what we could not see. Rooms that would be smaller on the inside than they should be."
"Broom closets that were larger on the inside than they should be," added Sirius with a smirk. "That's how we're going to figure this one out tonight, with Harry and Kara acting as our scouts, we'll narrow down the places the entrance can't be till all that's left is where it has to be."
"In theory," growled Neville, sitting at the conference table with his black and red armor on save for the headpiece which lay on the table before him. "We're still talking about getting around a Fidelius charm here, not as easy as you might think. Remember, the charm is going to make it nearly impossible to remember details about what we are looking for almost as quickly as we discover them."
"See, that's the trick," Sirius cut in, smirking all the while. "We're not trying to find the entrance to the Chamber, just the location of where it might be. Think about it, Albus evidently only hid the secret of where the entrance was, not the Chamber itself. If he had done that, we wouldn't be having this conversation now because we wouldn't even remember the Chamber at all."
Hermione nodded as she sat in another chair, wearing a black body suit that Hippolyta had given her. The bodysuit was skin tight, something that Neville had seemed to notice the moment Hermione walked in the room, but also seemed to absorb the light around it. Hermione had on her golden chest plate, belt, and tiara along with her armbands. When asked by Kara why she didn't wear the bodysuit over the armbands Hermione had explained that the moment she put the suit on it had seemed to slip right under the bands. Finishing her ensemble was Hermione's sword and lasso, with the sword on her left hip and the lasso on her right.
"There was a time when I thought Dumbledore was infallible," Hermione said as she played with one end of her lasso. "That ended the night Ginny vanished. Now I realize he's just an old man that likes to meddle just a little bit too much in the lives of the people around him. It does not surprise me that he would think himself clever by erasing only a little bit of a mystery, leaving anyone else unable to solve it."
Kara nodded, as she sat next to Harry holding his hand with her head resting on his shoulder. She wore a black bodysuit like Hermione's, with her dragon skin traveling cloak over it. She had wanted to wear the outfit she wore on her last adventure with Harry, but after Harry pointed out Sirius would see it the young blonde had quickly changed her mind. A quick conversation with Hippolyta had Kara returning to Harry's room with the black bodysuit and a pair of black dragon hide boots. Harry rather liked the way she looked in the outfit and with the way the shadows of the cloak seemed to hide her figure one moment and reveal it the next, he was thinking black was his new favorite color.
"He just didn't count on Harry and me," Kara said, playing with Harry's fingers. "There isn't a secret we can't unearth if we set our minds to it."
Suddenly a mirror in the center of the conference table vibrated, causing everyone to go on alert before Minerva's voice could be heard. "Curfew is in effect and Albus just left the castle. However, he was going to set another grouping of wards around the Embassy and the school before leaving the grounds. He's aware you've been removing the ones around the Embassy, so he's also got the groundskeeper watching from the tree line as a precaution."
Picking up the mirror, Harry smiled at the image of his adopted aunt. "Thanks, Aunt Minnie. We'll be careful."
"You make sure you are, Harry," replied Minerva with a smile. "Severus is patrolling the grounds and says he'll distract the groundskeeper, but you can never be too careful."
"What about Filtch," rasped Neville as he pulled his mask over his head, fine red lines of energy cascading down the suit for a moment before fading and leaving only the red bat shaped emblem visible against the black suit. "He's an insomniac with an empathic bond to his cat, Mrs. Norris."
"Not to worry, my dear Bat-bottom," piped up Fred in his red and black dragon hide shirt and pants.
"We have it on the very best of authority that Filtch confiscated a rather well aged bottle of Fire Whiskey this afternoon," continued George, wearing a matching outfit to his brother.
"Yeah, the poor little first year he got it off of cost a few galleons to help, but Filtch will be sleeping like a baby before you know it," added Ron, still in his school robes. "We put a minor charm on the cork to let us know whenever he opened the bottle. So far he's opened it about ten times, meaning he's probably sleeping like a baby right about now."
Hermione was scowling at the Weasley boys, arms crossed under her chest. "I can't believe you paid a first year to get in trouble! What if he had been expelled?"
"Actually, she didn't have a problem with it," snarked Ron. "As for getting in trouble, Filtch would have to turn the bottle in for that to happen, and it was a very well aged bottle."
Wearing her "work clothes," Luna sighed and nodded. "Argus has a great deal of pent up frustration stemming from the fact he's considered a squib, which has led to him being a bit too fond of the drink. As much as I hate to admit it, given the option of turning the bottle over or keeping it for himself, Argus will always choose the bottle over duty."
"Sadly, Miss Lovegood is correct," voiced Minerva from the mirror. "Anyway, I just saw Albus pass the gates and leave the school grounds, so best be about your business. I'll see you all tomorrow."
Setting the mirror back down, Sirius looked around the room and smiled. "Time for a bit of mischief, kiddies. Remus and I will deal with the wards around the Embassy first, but I suggest you all make your way to the Astronomy tower rather than attempt the main doors. You all got your mirrors?"
Eight heads nodded before Sirius and Remus headed out to disable the Headmaster's latest wards. Harry and Kara pulled up the hoods of the cloaks while the other's used obscuring charms on their faces, save Neville as he was already wearing a mask. A tense silence filled the room until a chime sounded from each of their mirrors and the group was off. If the Veela guards thought it strange to see eight costumed figures exit the Embassy, none of them said a word with the exception of one that whistled as Neville passed. With the exception of the Weasley boys, the group took to the air once outside. The Weasley boys smirked as they watched the airborne members of the group take off, then vanished in a burst of speed. When Harry and the others reached the top of the Astronomy tower it was to find the Weasley boys sipping tea and eating scones.
"We were starting to think you were never going to get here," Fred teased, offering the ladies in the group the plate of scones.
"Get serious, you clowns," growled Neville, or as he wanted to be called when in full costume, Batman. "We don't have time for your poor attempts at humor."
"You know, Bat-bottom, you really need to pull that stick out of your arse," Fred commented as he pulled his wand and vanished the tea and scones.
"I'm not sure he could do it alone, brother dearest," countered George.
"That's fine, Hermione would be more than willing to help him with that," commented Luna as she nibbled on a scone. "In fact, she'd help him with anything he asked for. Wouldn't you, Hermione?"
Everyone turned to see Hermione doing her best to hide her tomato red face while sneaking glances at Neville. "Shut up, Luna! Don't make me tell everyone where your fancy lies!"
Luna shrugged, finishing her scone and brushing the crumbs from her hands. "Hermione, I don't care who knows I'm bisexual. I had a crush on Ginny, but knew she wasn't into girls. I'd happily share Harry with Kara and I'd kill for a date with either of the Delacour girls, Gabrielle is only a year younger than me. I even tried dating Neville, but he only has eyes for one person even if he refuses to admit it. So, Hermione, did you really think you could hold something like that over me?"
Every young man present suddenly wished their pants were a size or two larger. Luna might not have meant to, but she painted a very compelling image in the boy's minds. Even Neville seemed to be having problems, though it was harder to tell with his mask on. Fred and George were just staring at Luna in wonder, mainly because they couldn't tell if she was pranking everyone or not. Kara and Hermione on the other hand were currently starring at Luna for two different reasons. Hermione because Luna had just announced that she was interested in Neville even if the boy didn't seem to even notice, while Kara was wondering if she would be interested in sharing with the other blonde. Truth be told she was very confident about her relationship with Harry, so there were no worries there, but she wasn't sure how she felt about sharing him with another girl.
"Something to think about later," she mumbled to herself, not that Harry didn't hear it and look at her questioningly. "We'll talk later."
"You all have your mirrors?" asked Harry as he turned his attention back to the others.
"I still think we should have gone with my magic resistant communicators," growled Neville even as the others nodded.
"You said they were prototypes that hadn't been tested yet," countered Kara. "After we test them out, then we can use them, but now is not the time to take a chance. What would we do if they shorted out when we needed them?"
Neville just nodded, not wanting to orally admit she had a point. With that out of the way, Harry gave the signal and they were on the move. The first step was to make their was down to the seventh floor and start looking for any place the Horcrux might be hidden. The Weasley boys had already mapped out the entire floor, but it was hoped the various abilities of the groups might detect something that the red headed speedsters had missed. Splitting up, they each started their search. Harry went with Neville, Luna, and Fred while Kara went with the rest.
Harry and Kara each had the task of trying to narrow down the search area by using their magic/energy sight. The task was a little frustrating as the Horcrux seemed to fade in and out of existence while moving around the area from time to time, almost as if its location was not a fixed point in space. Luna on the other hand was using her power ring to scan the area for any trapdoors or hidden entrances, though so far all she had found was a strange mural of a man trying to teach trolls to dance.
"I swear it's like the cursed thing is trying to hide from us," growled Neville as he used the technology in his suit to scan for any large voids in the walls.
Harry nodded, pacing as he scanned the wall opposite from the strange mural again as it seemed to be the closest point to the Horcrux they could find. "I know what you mean. It's like it comes and go's on a whim. I wish we could find it. I mean I really wish we could find it. If we could just find it we could move on to our next task."
Almost as if answering his wish, a door suddenly appeared in the door. Neville was instantly on edge, motioning for Harry and Luna to step back as a red and black bat shaped throwing knife appeared in his hand. Harry and Luna rolled there eyes at the overprotective gesture, but a moment later when Neville seemed to become invisible their eyes popped wide open. As they watched, the door slowly opened and Harry used his magic/energy sight to see the form of his new friend creep into the room. He was just about to follow after when a fully visible Neville stuck his head back out the door and motioned for them to follow him.
"Damn, Neville, that suits almost as handy as my dad's old invisibility cloak," complimented Harry as they stepped inside.
"Don't use my real name when I'm working," growled Neville. "I don't need some nutcase hearing you and going after my family. I don't have much left and unlike you, they don't have bullet proof skin."
"Sorry... Batman..." Harry apologized, following the masked young man further into the room as Luna contacted the others and told them where to meet them.
Soon after signaling the other team as to what they had found they all gathered inside the shockingly large room. If Harry had to describe the place he would have called it the largest junk drawer he had ever seen. Extending further into the distance than he could see with his normal vision, the room seemed filled with a thousand years of junk. There were books, mountains of books, which instantly had Hermione twitching with a desire to examine them all. Then there was the furniture of all types and condition, from the large half burnt couches to the numerous wardrobes and desks. That was only the beginning as they could also see brooms, swords, clothes, various knick knacks and generally the accumulated mess of untold years.
"This could take a while," moaned Kara as she examined the far end of the room with her telescopic vision.
"You do realized you could just use your fancy eye thingy and find it right away, don't you?" asked Ron, who was nibbling on a scone he had pulled from a pocket in his robe.
Harry blushed, felling a bit silly for having forgotten something so simple just because he was surprised by what was inside the room. "Sorry, got distracted for a moment. Just as a side note, do you ever stop eating?"
"I wish," groaned Ron, finishing his scone. "I'm a teenaged boy going through puberty, but I've also got a super fast metabolism, so I'm constantly hungry."
Fred and George nodded, before Fred said, "We had the same problem a year ago. No matter how much we ate, we were always hungry. Thankfully we were at school for most of it, so we could eat our fill while we were here and no one really noticed."
"It was harder at home," picked up George. "Our family isn't the best off, so we had to watch how much we ate or we could have bankrupted our family. It was worse after... Well, mum didn't seem to take as much joy out of cooking after that."
Ron nodded, pulling out another scone. "It's a good thing we have a few streams nearby that seem to attract fish, or we could have been in real trouble."
"You know," Luna cut in with a smirk on her face. "If you two were to gather all the forgotten items in this room, namely the valuable stuff like the swords and books, and sell them on the side..."
"You could make a very pretty penny," continued Kara. "Just think, some of this stuff looks rather expensive. Sure, you might have to break some curses on a few things, but in the end you would still make a profit."
Hermione nodded, a wide smile on her face. "Some of these books are non-magical first editions. Take them to any respectable auction house in London and you might be surprised by how much money you make. That is, after I make a copy of them for my own library."
As the Weasley boys were looking around the room with thoughts of how they might be able to make some use of it, Harry and Kara had activated their eyes. It took less then a minute to detect Riddle's Horcrux, though what the item ended up being took them by surprise. Perched atop one of the ugliest busts they had ever seen, Harry could barely imagine who would have wanted to carve that man/woman's face in stone, sat the long lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. Honestly, Harry hadn't a clue what it was at first and would have thought it a child's pretty princess party crown if not for the malignant magic it exuded.
"I really wish you didn't have to destroy it," Luna lamented as she gazed at the diadem. "It's been missing for so long and now to find it and have to lose it forever."
"Yes," agreed Neville and Ron at the same time. "So sad."
Looking over his shoulder, Harry was shocked to find that each of his new friends was now starting to move towards the diadem. He could see traces of the foul magic attempting to attach itself to his friends and knew he had to act fast. Turning back to Kara and seeing she had come to the same conclusion, they unleashed Hell on the cursed diadem. At such close range it was easy to see the foul magic trying to fight back, but the duo's determination fueled their power and in seconds the diadem was atomized. A faint echo, a wail of despair maybe, could be heard in the distance as Harry and Kara turned back to see their friends looking confused.
"I hate mind control," growled Batman, getting matching nods from all present.
"Doesn't this seem far too easy to anyone else?" asked Hermione as she drew her wand and put out the flames caused by Harry and Kara's attack on the diadem. "I'm at a loss as to how this was supposed to be a safe location to hide something so important."
"From everything the American's had on him, Riddle thought he was smarter than everyone else," explained Harry as he looked around the room again, praying he wouldn't find anything else dangerous. "He was also fixated on Hogwarts and Defense against the Dark Arts teaching position. Several analysts from the American Paladin forces, their version of Aurors, theorized that much of his reign of terror could have been stopped years earlier if Riddle had just been given the job when he first asked for it."
"I saw that in the file," agreed Batman, with a slight nod of his head. "Raised as an orphan, he asked for sanctuary at Hogwarts rather than being forced to return to the abusive environment at the orphanage. He was refused every time and kept under close scrutiny by Dumbledore, who did his best to isolate the boy from anyone outside of Slytherin House that might have helped the boy."
Harry turned towards the door, leading the others out as he picked up the story again. "Yeah, the Paladins have numerous personal memories of a young Tom Riddle in his first year begging professors and the Headmaster at the time not to force him to leave. All his pleas were ignored and by the time he returned to Hogwarts for his second year, he had changed drastically. No one knows what happened to him over that summer just that by September first of his second year, many in hindsight admitted, it was probably too late to save the boy from the dark path he was on. It was his second year when he started to gather the students that would later become the first members of his Death Eaters."
Exiting the room and letting the door close behind them, Harry just sighed and shook his head. "Younger than us, yet already so angry at the world. I don't get it, I really don't."
Stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around him, Kara stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "And I'm rather glad you don't, Harry."
"Enough history lessons and mush," Fred said walking back towards the group. He and George had been working on how to reopen the now vanished door. "Admittedly, Harry and Kara are a cute couple and the 'awww' factor is very high when they are together..."
"But we've got place to be, people to save, and a mystery to finally solve," continued George as he stepped away from were the door had just reappeared. With a jerk of his head towards the door, George explained, "Ron figured it out."
"You walk by it three times either saying or thinking about wanting to find the room, and the door will appear," explained Ron, munching on an apple. "I want to come back later and work on it a bit more, but I think the room can do more than we've seen so far."
"Ask the house elves, Ron," suggested Luna as she examined the portrait of the fool trying to teach trolls to dance. "They know more about this castle than even the Headmaster, so maybe they can tell you more about that room."
"Tip top idea, Luna!" exclaimed the twins in unison.
"Ronald, if you are smart enough to figure this out so quickly, why don't you focus on your schoolwork more?" asked Hermione, looking at the youngest Weasley as if he was a puzzle.
Ron shrugged , tossing the finished apple core into the air and vanishing it with his wand before pulling out another apple from his pocket. "I don't really care about school, Hermione. I get the grades I need to pass, but no more."
"Whatever, Ronald," Hermione was just shaking her head as she pulled Kara to the side. "I still say it was too easy. Though I find learning more about our foe to be interesting, if maybe a bit poorly timed."
"I know," giggled Kara, looking over at Harry and Neville as they started leading the group towards the castle's central staircase. "Harry get's like that sometimes, I think it's nerves. Sirius calls it the 'bury it in bovine fecal material mode.' It's Harry's way of ignoring when he's nervous or scared, he starts regurgitating information that deals indirectly with the situation that is causing his anxiety."
Luna had joined them with a sigh, shaking her head at the boys walked ahead of them, still spewing useless information as the headed deeper into the castle. "Neville does it as well, though not as much now as when I first met him. Oh, don't look so smug, Hermione, you do it as well."
The busty brunette shrugged, looking not in the least ashamed of herself. "I'm well aware of that, little miss 'I see imaginary creatures as a means to keep people from getting too close to me.' We all have our own issues, myself included, but we're still young and have time to learn to deal with it."
"We hope we have time," countered Kara. "I don't know about you two, but the thought of Harry having to face and kill a psychopath does not make me happy. Sure, I know Harry can beat him in an instant, we're already making sure of that, but that doesn't change the fact Riddle could pop up at any moment. I don't want something to happen to me before I can..."
"Shag Harry rotten?" suggested Luna with a wicked grin, one that was matched by Hermione. "Seriously, I'd share him with you in a heartbeat, after you got first crack at him of course."
Kara blushed at that thought, mainly because of thoughts of her and Harry's new nightly activities. No, they had not gone any further than a bit of mutual satisfaction, but that didn't mean Kara hadn't thought of doing more. Harry had ended up being the responsible one in that regard, stating that while he did enjoy the things they did together, he wasn't ready for more at the present time. If she was really honest with herself, neither was she, but the fact they both now slept naked in his bed was a clear indication that the time was getting closer. Just the thought of it sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine.
"Oh my!" gasped Hermione, noticing the silly grin on Kara's face. "You two haven't already done THAT have you?"
"No, not yet," admitted Kara with another blush, matched by the one on Harry's face. "We've done some other things, but not that yet. Harry isn't ready for THAT yet and I don't think I am either, but we're working towards it."
Luna was giggling as she suddenly started blushing as well. "So, Kara, how big is he?"
While the girls chatted, Harry and the boys were leading them further into the castle's lower floors. He was constantly scanning the area with his mage/energy sight, looking for areas he couldn't see into. It was fairly easy to find what they were looking for, seeing as how the Fidelius left a huge void in what he could see. Upon reaching the second floor, he walked towards the top of the void in his vision and only stopped once they were standing outside a girls bathroom.
"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in a girls bathroom?" asked Ron, sounding a bit skeptical.
Harry just shrugged, using his X-ray vision to make sure no one was inside. "Hogwarts is over a thousand years old, Ron, it probably wasn't a bathroom back then."
"True," agreed Neville. "The charms for indoor plumbing were not rediscovered until two hundred fifty years after the castle was constructed. Only reason I remember is because Professor Binns mentioned it in class one day. It stuck in my head because it was the first time I remember him ever talking about anything other than the Goblin Uprisings."
Fred and George nodded, with Fred saying, "Yeah, I remember that one as well."
"Probably the only thing I've ever remembered him saying
in class," added George.
Ron nodded with a smirk on his face. "Figures the only thing we remember learning from a crap teacher is when indoor plumbing was installed in the school."
Stepping inside the bathroom, with the girls following a moment later, Harry and the boys were surprised to see the room looked so normal. "I figured it would be pink and girly," voiced Ron as he looked around. "This just looks like our bathrooms."
"What are boys doing in a girl's bathroom?" demanded a female voice, causing everyone to turn towards the stalls.
Floating over the ground was the ghost of a young girl wearing a Hogwarts uniform. She looked the same age as them, but it was hard to tell given the spectral nature of her current condition. What they could clearly see about her was she was short, shorter than Kara at any rate, with long dark hair, a spotty complexion, and thick glasses. It was clear to see that the girl had been crying from the trails of silvery tears on her face, but she currently looked rather upset. Whether it was because there were boys in the girl's bathroom, or because she didn't like people was up for debate.
"We're looking for something," explained Harry, stepping forward and smiling at the ghost. "The trail led us here and we're hoping to find it before anyone knows what we've been doing."
"Oh, you must be looking for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," replied the ghost with a shrug. "It's behind that sink over there. I'm Myrtle, just in case you care."
Harry looked at the sink the young female ghost was pointing at, before turning back to look at the ghost. "Thanks, Myrtle. I'm Harry and it's a pleasure to meet you. If you don't mind my asking, how do you know where the entrance is, we were under the impression that the Headmaster hid it under a Fidelius charm?"
"Oh, he did," answered Myrtle, looking rather happy that someone was talking with her.
"Is it because your dead that you still remember?" asked Hermione, not expecting Myrtle to suddenly start crying again before suddenly disappearing down one of the toilets.
"Looks like she's a bit touchy about the whole being dead thing," Ron deadpanned, looking at Hermione with a shake of his head. "You might want to remember that if you have to talk with her again."
The group of teenagers spent the next thirty minutes trying to figure out how to open the entrance without doing too much damage. Sure, they could blast their way inside, but then it would be clear to anyone what had happened. Harry knew the moment Dumbledore discovered what they had been up to he would be on guard, something he wanted to avoid at all cost, so there had to be another way. They needed to get in and out while leaving no trace of their actions, but how was the question.
He was leaning against one of the sinks, looking into the mirror when Harry finally muttered, "How do we get inside?"
Much to Harry's surprise, the sink suddenly started to retract into the floor leaving a large pipe visible. Everyone stepped back, half expecting something to come out of the opening and attack them, but nothing happened except a voice echoing up from the darkness below. It was a hollow sounding voice, seeming to be made up of two voices overlapping each other.
"All you had to do was ask," said the voice, sounding far away yet close by all at once. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you, Harry Potter."